Mazes

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Maze Terminology — an Overview

Here are some common terms related to mazes and labyrinths, in the order that I thought of them. See if you can find examples of some of the more unusual maze features listed below in the Amazeing Art mazes.

A simple maze vortex

A simple 3-passage vortex
Start (or Entrance, Beginning)
The entrance or starting point for a maze, usually indicated with an "S." Some mazes have more than one starting point, although this is rare. In outdoor mazes visitors are forced to begin at the start. This is not so with printed maze puzzles, where a common maze-solving technique (when stuck) is to begin at the End and try to work backwards to the Start. Theseus didn't have this option.
End (or Goal, Exit)
The end point of a maze, usually indicated by "E." In unicursal mazes (mazes with a single path, commonly called labyrinths) the end is often in the center.
Dead End
A passageway that leads nowhere and that has no branches or junctions. Once you discover you are in a dead end, turn around.
Blind Alley (similar to Cul-de-sac, Trap)
In general, these are various looping passageways or collections of passageways that, once entered, must be exited by backtracking along the original path that you came in on. Some mazes have very large areas, within which one can wander aimlessly, that must be backtracked out of to solve the maze.
Passageway
A path upon which one is constrained while solving a maze. Passageways are bordered by walls, and force the maze solver to either go forward or backward along the passageway. Large open spaces in a maze (such as a room) are technically passageways if they contain exactly two entrance/exit points.
Junction (or fork)
An area in a maze where three or more passageways meet, forcing the maze solver to choose between at least two alternate routes going forward. Well designed junctions utilize psychology to mislead maze solvers down incorrect passageways. For example, maze solvers tend not to take passageways that appear to go back in a direction they just came from. Making such passageways the route to the solution results in a more difficult maze.
Outer Wall (or Boundary)
The wall or barrier forming the outermost perimeter of a maze. Everything outside the Outer Wall is not a part of the maze puzzle.
Spiral
A single passageway that spirals into itself and leads to a dead end at the center of the spiral.
Vortex
Three or more passageways that spiral into each other, to a central junction, where one must then choose a passageway leading back out. Vortices are disorienting because it is difficult to predict in what direction a passageway leading out will ultimately lead. Multiple vortices linked together can be particularly confusing to navigate.
Bottleneck
A passage connecting one area of a maze to another, and that must be traversed in order to solve the maze. Every solution to the maze must go through the bottleneck.
Best-Solution (or Shortest Path)
The shortest physical route through a maze (i.e. the quickest solution if one is walking). Some mazes have more than one best solution (i.e. two or more solutions that are equally short), although this is very rare.